Stalker

Silence quickly fell across the room as Mr. Andrews burst through the classroom doors. His heels clicked against the floor as he made his way to the front of the class; not daring to look at anyone. Mr. Andrews was a peculiar man; a short, angry man who always seemed to wear the same dark pinstriped suit. As far as Jessica had known him, Mr. Andrews could never look anyone in the eye; not even for a second.

The teacher closed his eyes. “Good morning class, as most of you will know, my name is Mr. Andrews and I will be your form tutor this year” he said, surprisingly cheerily. Jessica stared at him for a moment, unsure of what to make of his sudden change in personality. In all the years she had known him, she never saw him once crack a smile and yet, here he was. Smiling away and cracking jokes with various class members.

If anything, it made her feel weird.

“Right, so I see we have some new faces joining us this year. For the next 10 minuets I want you to get up and talk to 3 people you don’t know. GO” he instructed happily, clapping his hands together which immeditatly sent the students rising out of their seats. Jessica nervously wandered the classroom, occasionally introducing herself to various people. For god sake Jess calm down she thought sternly, trying to pull herself together as she continued to smiled and make herself known to her classmates. This seems to be going well she thought positively, feeling more relieved as the seconds ticked away.

She glanced to her left and saw Gerard moving away from another boy in their class. She took a deep breathe, muscling up the confidence to walk over to him only to find him walking towards her. Maybe he isn’t so rude afterall she wondered, stepping forward to speak to him. “Hi” She said chirpily, gawkily raising her hand and waving at him. Gerard grinned, folding his arms against his chest as he looked down at her. “Hi” He replied, his eye glancing at someone behind her. Jessica opened her mouth to speak, trying to give of some form of confidence before Gerard quickly interrupted her. “Sorry, Emma’s over there… I’m gonna go speak to her now” he added, moving past her and leaving her standing alone.

Jessica glanced back at him, almost shocked by what just happened. What exactly was his problem? He had no right to treat her like this. Jessica rolled her eyes at him, scowling as she slumped back down in her seat. Clearly he couldn’t be bothered with her so why should she? She had no time for men like him, especially if they had no respect for other people.

What does she see in him Jessica wondered, raising an eye at Emma as she continued to talk to Gerard, seeming to hang off his every word.

******

The rest of the morning went surprisingly well. Despite the initial awkwardness, Jessica found herself enjoying her classes and the people in them. The bell suddenly rang out across the school, as he turned left at the end of the corridor, signaling the start of lunch. Within seconds, students filled the corridor; their green Birchwood High blazers lighting up the school with an almost prestigious glow as they pushed and shoved their way through to try and get out of the classrooms. Jessica strolled down the corridor, her mind wandering from free thought to free form as the shrieking tones of Ollie Sykes screamed in her ears. As she pushed her way out of the English building, she saw Emma walking towards the sixth form block.

“Emma” she called out, running to catch up with her. Emma turned, smiling sweetly at her as she waited for her to catch up. “Hey Jess, how was lessons?” She asked, shoving her hands into her jean pocket. Jessica smiled. “yeah they were great, although Mr. Smith is so boring, I swear he wasn’t even there half the time. How were yours” She replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as they continued to walk towards the building. Emma nodded. “Yeah they were ok, not sure I’ll stick with physics though” she said, walking through the double doors of the building and into the common room.

“Hey, is it ok if I sit with you at lunch” Jessica asked hopefully, she really didn’t fancy sitting on her own; especially in a common room this packed. She had never seen so many people in one room before; the place was manic. Emma hesitated, her smile quickly fading as she slowly shook her head. “No, no I don’t think that’s a good idea, my sister doesn’t really like you” She said quietly, sounding almost guilty about the whole thing. A pained look quickly flushed across Jessica’s face, this couldn’t be happening. She never expected this to happen. “I’ll keep out of her way I promise just… I really don’t want to sit alone” She admitted, trying blink back the tears that were welling in her eyes. Emma sighed, gesturing towards the backdoors of the sixth form block and walked her outside.

Jessica followed her and found Laura, Amy and Jonny sitting on the benches. Emma took a seat next to Jonny, who wore a scruffy old suit. “Got dressed in the dark did we?” She said as she pushed her glasses up her nose. Jonny said nothing, grinning as he flipped her the finger. Jessica smiled, keeping herself to herself as she pulled out a bottle of coke from her bag, taking a sip of it before shoving it back in her bag.

And then she saw him.

Striding into the courtyard, with his black unkempt hair hanging loose from his head and his checkered backpack swung tightly over his shoulder, was Frank Iero. Jessica grinned, rising up from her seat and running over to him. “Oh my god!” She cried, throwing her arms around him as she squeezed him tight. It had been years since she and him last saw each other; she couldn’t believe how happy she was now he was here. Frank hugged her back, grinning as he held her at arms length. “God you’ve changed so much. How’ve you been? It’s been too long” He cried, walking over to a nearby bench before taking a seat opposite her. Jessica smiled, folding her arms together on the table. “It really has. I’m doing ok thanks, I passed my exams” She replied, gesturing back towards the sixth form block. Frank’s grin widened, slowly nodding his head as he pushed a strand of hair out of his eyes. “I’ve missed you, you know that” he said softly, his voice possessing same the sweetness he had when they first met- the day they got lost on the way to art class.

“You alright Jess” A voice suddenly called out, startling her for a moment. Jessica turned her head to find Gerard standing beside Emma; his hands shoved deep into his pockets as he stared at her; almost as if he was trying to suss her out. Jessica smiled, not out of kindness, but out of politeness- just because he felt it necessary to be rude, did not mean she had to. “Hello Gerard” she replied, turning back to Frank. Gerard smirked, shaking his head as he continued his conversation with Emma. Jessica kept her eye on him, Frank’s voice slowly drifting from her mind as she found herself thinking about Gerard and how much of a arsehole he was.

Come to think of it, he was all she had thought about all day.

Notes

Rate/Comment/Subcribe - the next chapter will be a bit more Gerard heavy :) xxx